Jewelry coupling



A.. BIPPART. IEWELRY COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 23, 1321.

1 ,42 1 3 Patented July 4, 1922.

A TTORNE Y5,

ACHILL IBIPPAB/I, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

JEWELRY COUPLING.

Application filed July 23,

To all 1/) ltom. it may, concern Be it known that I, AoHILL Birrlinr, a citizen oi the United States, residing at East Orange, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Jewelry Couplings, fully described and represented in the fol lowing specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The present invention relates to a coupler for detachably coupling two ends of a bracelet, necklace, or other article of jewelry.

The couplings commonly employed for such a purpose have the members upon the two ends of the article formed respectively with a socket and with anotched catch to fit within the socket and engage a shoulder at one side of the same.

In small articles of jewelry the notched catch upon one member of the coupling is necessarily made very slender and is liable to be injured or overstrained in handling, so that the catch loses its ability to grip securely the shoulder within the socket.

The object of the present invention is to relieve the catch from injurious strain and to furnish a supplemental support for the catch upon the catch-member. This supplemental support is formed as a flat tongue having parallel edges to snugly fit within the socket upon the socket-member.

The catch is formed with two latch-bars connected together at their inner ends and attached to the tongue so that their outer ends may be movable to and from one another. Such outer ends are notched upon their outer sides to engage the corresponding shoulders in the mouth of the socket.

The engagement of the tongue movable with the socket forms a connection of the two which may be made very much stronger than. the catch itself.

The construction will be understood by reference to the annexed drawing, in which Fig. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of the socket-member and the tongue inserted partly within the same, the catch-member being broken away at the base of the tongue to expose the catch to view; Fig. 2 is a cross section on line 22 in Fig. 1, with the parts still further enlarged; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on line 3-3, of the parts in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a plan of the catch-member with the tongue projected therefrom and the latch-bars omitted. I

In Fig. 1, a double catch is shown for Specification of Letters Latent.

Patented July 4:, 1922. 1921.. Serial No. 487,055.

engaging shoulders at opposite sides of the socket; and Fig. 5 shows a catch adapted to engage a shoulder at one side only of the socket, the parts being broken away where hatched, at the top of the socket. Fig. 6 is a plan of the catch shown in Fig. Stand Fig. 7 is a plan of the catch shown in Fig. 1 with the tongue beneath the same, and the catch wholly inserted in the socket to engage the shoulders therein.

A designates the socket-member of a bracelet, and B the catch-member, the socket being formed as a hollow box with parallel sidesand an opening 0 in the end to admit the tongue Z), forming the base of the catchmember.

Bracelet-links A are shown connected with the coupler-members, Fig. 5 showing such links hinged together; but it will be understood that the couplermay be used for coupling any desired parts together.

The opening 0 is made as wide as the interior of the socket, so that the tongue may fit snugly within the opening 0 and the walls of the socket. The tongue thus sustains the latch-bars with the utmost firmness when the parts are engaged.

The catch in Figs. 1 and? is shown with two latch bars d and an intermediate foot d, which in practice is soldered to the top side of the tongue 6.

These latch-bars (Z are formed notches e at their outer ends adjacent to the catch-member B, and the upper side of the opening 0 is formed with a notch or recess 0 to clear the tops of the latch-bars.

The opposite ends of the recess 0 are formed with shoulders c which engage the notches 6 upon the latch-bars when they are pushed wholly into the socket, as shown in Figs. 5 and 7.

The latch-bars are arranged to press elastically away from their foot so as to firmly engage the shoulders 0 in the socket.

The catch is formed with two bars attached together at their inner ends where they are secured to the tongues b, in order that they may support and react against each other. and afford such reaction whether or not they are both formed with shoulders to engage both edges of the opening 0 in the end of the socket.

The movement of the tongue into the socket is limited by laterally projecting arms f upon the outer ends of the catch-bars, which arms are provided with buttons f to press the latch-bars together. to clear the shoulders 6 when disengaging the members of the coupler.

Figs. and 6 show a latch with only one of the latch-bars adapted to engage a shoulder e at one side only of the socket; but the relation of the tongue 6 to the latchbars is the same whether the notch engages the socket upon one or both sides.

Fig. l and Fig. 7 show the width of the recess 0 in the upper side of the opening 0, which recess is made shorter than the opening. to leave shoulders at the opposite edges of the recess to engage the notches 6 upon the latch-bars.

It is obvious that the connection of. the tongue with the latchbars greatly increases the rigidity of the joint which is formed by such a coupler, as the tongue fitsthe inner side of the socket throughout the entire length of the tongue and prevents any tipping or rocking oi the parts which tends to impair their engagement with one another. 1

Vhen the latch is withdrawn from the socket the edges of the tongue project beyond the edges of the socket, and thus guards the latch-bars from any accidental pressure or in ury.

From the above description it will be understood that; the disposition of the two latch-bars upon the fiat upper side of the tongue and their movability only in the plane of such side, affords constant sup port and protection to the whether in or out of the socket, as they never extend or project clear from the tongue. and are not therefore liable to be pressed or bent, or accidentally caught in any article of dress.

The sizes of the parts are greatly exaggerated in the drawing, butin practice the coupler-members are often made only oneeighth of an inch wide, so that the latch members are very liable to bending and injury when not inserted in their sockets.

Reference to Figs; 1 to t shows that the tongue has no means of engagement with the shoulders which hold the catch-incur hers coupled together, and its function is therefore strictly that of reinforcing the latch-bars latch-bars so as to prevent them from in jury especially when made very small.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention what is claimed herein is:

1.. A jewelry coupler having a socket member and a catch-member, the socketsocket-opening, tlmmhpieces for pressing the latch-bars toward one another upon the flat side oi the tongue, and the latch-bars operating normally to holdthe notchnpon the shoulder when the latch-bars are not pressed together.

2. A jewelry coupler having a socket-* member and a latch-member, the socketmember having an opening at one end with shoulder therein, and the catch-member being provided with a tongue fitted snugly to the opposite edges of such opening. two

latch-bars connected at their inner ends and ing a flat tongue with parallel edges fitted two latclrbars movably to such opening, connected at their inner ends and fastened together upon one of the flat sides ofthe tongue. a notch upon each of the latch-bars to engage the'edge ol' the opening. and the free ends of the latch-bars having thumbpieces to press them toward one another upon the flat side of the tongue- In testimony wher'eoi I have hereunto set my hand.

ACHILL BIPPART. 

